Uniforming EU regulation to the incoming ETIAS travel authorization

May 17, 2017April 20, 2017

ETIAS Europe

Czech and Belgian delegations have raised the attention of the European Commission on the legislative scope that ETIAS travel authorization should have to be as effective as possible. In particular, article 2 of the ETIAS proposal draft contains references to both regulation 539/2001 and the Visa Code; such references should determine the scope and the interaction of ETIAS travel authorization with the visa requirements. The goal is to avoid legal loopholes rules overlapping and, at the same time, create a procedure as simple as possible for visitors. Some points of the regulation nr. 539/2001 are currently under debate because they can create loopholes on the eligibility of the travelers

(article 4) national exceptions to the exemption of the visa requirement - limited territorial validity of a travel authorization: in case an individual wants to travel to a Schengen Area Member State only without a visa requirement, will the travel authorization have only limited territorial validity (LTV)? in case a person wishes to visit a member state without a visa obligation and a different member state which applies visa obligation instead, should he be in possession of both a visa and a travel authorization? These questions need an answer especially in the case of an enlargement of the area covered by ETIAS, in this case, the responsibility of which country will issue the (uniform) Schengen visa must be determined. According to the visa code volume I, part II, 2.5 mentions that the member state with a visa requirement should always be responsible in this case.

(article 2) airport transit: The European court of justice ruled that in the case of airport transit (where an external border crossing is not related to the entry into and movement within the Schengen Area) a visa may not be required. The incoming ETIAS could clash with some of the principles applied to visitors entering the EU with a long-term residence visa (the principle of the whole ETIAS proposal is that the visa-exempt travelers are not subject to a less favorable treatment than those required to hold a visa).

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EtiasEurope.eu is a private Website that provides the latest News and Information regarding travel to the Schengen area and information about the new European Commission's legislative proposal for an EU Travel and Information Authorisation System (ETIAS). Because of the nature of this topic and the continuous updates of the legislative initiative, we strongly suggest that all visitors get the latest updates on the official EU governative websites.